


Then may he play on his harp in peace

by ShadowSnowdapple



Series: Thy Songs were Made for the Pure and Free [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Extra stories, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, It's my off-story oneshot fic and I choose the queer characters, Missing Scene, injuries, queer charaters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24835399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowSnowdapple/pseuds/ShadowSnowdapple
Summary: Various one-shots and missing scenes in the same timeline as Soul of Love and Bravery, following the things left out of Oscar's time at Beacon Academy.
Relationships: Ozpin & Oscar Pine
Series: Thy Songs were Made for the Pure and Free [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796446
Comments: 40
Kudos: 175
Collections: The Adventures of Team NAVE





	1. The Bright Incident

**Author's Note:**

> There's several things I made up for further story building, skimmed over to get to plot, or thought of as background info for fun that I wanted to eventually write so here is the SOLAB One-shots! Some are going to be serious, some are going to be silly- I'll post these whenever they are finished with no posting schedule. Just- whenever. Extra content lol! 
> 
> This first one wasn't the first one I wrote- the other one I have in drafts is a lot more random and not SUPER cannon. Like- it's cannon to me but like- it's not referenced in the main story. Also, it's not done.
> 
> UNLIKE THIS ONE WHICH IS BOTH VERY CANNON AND VERY DONE!
> 
> The rumored Bright Incident! Enjoy!!
> 
> Warning for blood and injury description on this first chapter <3 stay safe

Oscar liked going to Weapons classes. It was always fun to see the excited students talk about what new upgrades that they had added to their weapons. It reminded Oscar of Ruby, who had a special interest in weapons and could talk about Crescent Rose.

Professor Harold Mulberry was a muscular man with dark hair that looked black until it hit the light and you could see that it was a very dark purple. He was very knowledgeable about weapons and crafting and had even been helping Oscar and Ozpin picking out materials for Oscar's cane which was still in planning, but it was exciting nonetheless.

That was where Oscar found himself later in the semester, sitting at Professor Mulberry's desk as he looked over Tan Bright's weapon while one of his teammates, Rust Hawthorne, stood next to him. Apparently, Rust had tried to fix Tan's shifting falchion. It was _supposed_ to change into a boomerang, but it kept getting stuck. Rust tried to fix it, but it only seemed to get worse so they both had finally given up their pride and brought the falchion to class.

Tan Bright was nice enough. He was a taller, muscular guy with skin a hair lighter than Oscar's with messy pale hair and shaved sides. He was brash but kind. Rust on the other side was cold to Oscar, probably still salty about the incident in Oobleck's class when Oscar had first gotten there. It had almost been a month since then and Rust didn't lose the sour attitude. Oscar was beginning to think that it was a natural state.

Professor Mulberry handed the falchion back to Tan. "Try it now," he advised.

Rust backed up and held up his hands, "Throw it at me, I'll dodge if it works and catch it if it doesn't."

Tan rolled his eyes and flipped the sword in his hand, pulling back his arms and gave a curved throw. In midair, the falchion shifted into a boomerang, the direction curving. Rust ducked out of the way with a grin. Oscar watched the two give each other victorious expressions before Oscar's eye refocused. It was a bit too late.

The latch had loosened again, the boomerang turned again, collapsing back into the sword and lost the curved arc. It was coming towards him. Oscar quickly stood up to try and move out of the way, but he had caught it too late. Oscar felt a sharp pain in his neck as the pommel connected with his windpipe as it completed one more turn. At least it wasn't the blade, Oscar thought for a second, trying to move with the blow like Oz had taught him many months ago, but it wasn't enough as Oscar dropped to the ground, wheezing.

His ears rang as he heard voices screaming around the classroom. Within a moment, someone was grabbing his shoulders and pulling him up as Oscar fought to get breath again, coughing loudly. The ringing lessened as Oscar caught his breath.

_"Holy fuck, Bright, you killed Ozpin's kid!"_ Someone yelled.

"No," the older voice belonging to the person gripping Oscar called out as he blinked the black spots from his eyes.

His neck burned, but it was probably fine, Oscar thought as Professor Mulberry helped Oscar up and sit back on the chair at his desk.

"Are you okay, Oscar?" Mulberry asked, "Maybe you should stay in the back from now on."

Oscar held up a thumb as he leaned over the desk, holding up his head.

"Holy shit, _is he bleeding?"_ someone else yelled.

Oscar blinked and looked down at the desk, seeing a drop of red drip onto the wood. Confused, Oscar placed a hand against his neck and held it back out as he felt something warm and wet. His hand was _covered_ in blood.

Professor Mulberry paled as Oscar just stared at the blood, not really registering what it meant.

One of the students, a red-headed girl named Mahogany, jumped over the desks in the front row, running past Tan and Rust and grabbing the first aid kit in the back, yelling behind her, "Yo Birch! Go get Professor Ozpin!"

From further in the back- Birch, Tan, and Rust's teammate along with Mahogany shot up and ran out the door as the room descended into hysteria.

Oscar didn't really get it for a moment, he felt dizzy as Professor Mulberry picked him up, pretty much swept all the tools off of his desk in one swipe of his arm, and laid Oscar down on the flat surface. Oscar frowned, not getting it. The stinging in his neck was getting duller, he was mostly just cold and a bit light-headed if anyone was trying to help.

Professor Mulberry grabbed Oscar's neck and Oscar flinched, and immediately tried to push him away.

"Oscar, you're _bleeding_ ," he said, pushing Oscar back as Mahogany ran up with the first aid kit.

He tried again to grab Oscar's neck and Oscar shoved back again. No one was supposed to touch his neck. Ozpin got a pass but that was just because he was careful, and well... he was Ozpin... but Professor Mulberry had no reason to try and grab it, it was just a bruise, it couldn't be _that_ bad, it didn't even hurt anymore. But it _was_ getting really cold.

"Mahogany, can you help me?" Professor Mulberry said, sighing. Mahogany nodded and grabbed Oscar's wrists and held them down.

"Sorry, kiddo," She said, looking strained and guilty.

Professor Mulberry, reached for Oscar's neck _again_ Oscar tried to stop him but Mahogany held fast. Oscar tried to protest, trying to get out of their grip, trying to tell them to stop, but he kept coughing whenever he tried to speak.

"Oscar, you're going to make it worse," Professor Mulberry said sternly, cutting away the bandages around Oscar's neck, and pulling them away. They looked rather red, _why were they red?_

Professor Mulberry's eyes widened as they were removed before quickly narrowing again, rummaging through the first aid box and pressing something down firmly against Oscar's neck. The pressure was uncomfortable and Oscar tried to get away but Mahogany just grabbed Oscar's two hands in one of hers and grabbed his shoulder, holding him in place.

"Just calm down, we're trying to _help_ you," Mahogany hissed.

"He's scared, don't snap at him," Professor Mulberry scolded softly before turning around and calling behind his shoulder, "Don't just stand there like buffoons, one of you get over here and elevate his legs!"

Oscar didn't get it, why were they doing this to him? This didn't seem right! Where was Ozpin? Didn't someone call for him? Oscar's vision swam and it was hard to breathe, but it wasn't from Mulberry's pressure on his neck, his fingers were carefully away from his windpipe.

"Oz..." Oscar slurred, his vision was getting darker. The voices around him started to blur together as the darkness swallowed him.

* * *

Oscar woke up in the nurse's office. He had passed by there and had been introduced to the staff in passing but hadn't planned on being there at any point. Yet he woke up in a bed there. Oscar blinked open his eyes to the dim yet pale room. He was already getting sick of waking up in hospitals.

Sitting right next to him on a stool, elbows on his knees, was Ozpin.

Oscar pressed his lips into a frown as Ozpin lit up.

"Oh thank goodness, you're awake," He sighed, pressing a hand to his heart.

Oscar reached up and rubbed his eyes, his head ached and he felt sleepy, "Why am I in the nurse's office?"

"Apparently you got hit in the neck with a falchion," Ozpin said, pulling the sheet over Oscar up a bit more, "It popped your stitches and started to bleed quite a bit. You passed out from blood loss."

Oscar glanced up, trying to think, "I think... I think I remember something like that. I _do_ remember getting hit in the neck, everything after that is hazy."

"Professor Mulberry, Miss Mahogany, and Mr. Hawthorne were trying to keep you from losing too much blood by the time that the nurse and I got there," Ozpin said, "you had to get a transfusion."

Oscar groaned, "Great. What's the prognosis?"

"You have new stitches and some of your other wounds were reopened, so we may need to worry about your neck bandages for a bit longer than we first assumed," Ozpin recounted, "Otherwise, you just need some iron and liquids."

Oscar held up a hand, "I can do that."

"Also, about Mr. Bright and Mr. Hawthorne..." Ozpin said, sitting back, "Professor Mulberry and several students told me what happened. I was wondering what you, the person who was injured, would like to say on the matter of their punishments. Professor Mulberry is already prepared to go on probation for letting such a thing happen."

Oscar sat up quickly, his head spinning a bit, "No!"

Ozpin frowned, "No?"

"They didn't do anything wrong!" Oscar said quickly, "It was just an accident and I'm fine!"

Ozpin's expression softened, "Oscar, you were hurt-"

"It's okay!" Oscar said emphatically, "I wasn't paying attention either! I shouldn't have been down there! It was an accident. Nobody needs to get in trouble."

Ozpin sighed, "If... if you're sure-"

"I am!" Oscar said.

Ozpin nodded, "Alright, but we're changing our policy about weapons demonstrations- and you need to work on your Aura."

"I know," Oscar sighed, rubbing his head.

There was a clearing of the throat and the curtains around the bed and Tan Bright poked his head inside.

"I uh- came to check on Oscar, Rust is here too," Tan said, a sheepish smile on his face.

Oscar smiled back and nodded. Ozpin waved them in. Both of them looked _thoroughly_ embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Tan said immediately, "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Oscar said, "I'm sorry for the scare."

Rust rubbed his head, not meeting Oscar's eyes, "yeah... I uh... I'm sorry too. And uh... for being cold to you before."

Oscar grinned, "All's forgiven."

Tan chuckled, "You're too good for us, kid. Even if we're not getting in trouble by Ozpin like we just heard from outside- I'll tell you, Mahogany is ready to skin us."

Oscar chuckled lightly, "I can't stop that."

"Rust and I really appreciate it, Oscar. We're _really_ sorry." Tan repeated, "You have free reign to beat me a new one when you finally get your hands on something sharp."

Oscar laughed earnestly at that, "Not sure that's what I want, but I'll keep it in mind."

* * *

[Team TMBR btw](https://shadowsnowdapple.tumblr.com/post/621387896260378624/sketches-of-two-of-the-upperclassmen-from-solab)


	2. Pride Month

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This oneshot is a re-write of the first oneshot I wrote for this collection and honestly one of the reasons I made this a separate thing? Like- this whole thing can be ignored but it doesn't change the fact that it's cannon to SOLAB to me *sparkles*. But it's also skippable if you have your own headcannons which are valid but like- here are mine.
> 
> TLDR: I'm trans and queer and I can't be stopped. enjoy or don't it's your choice.
> 
> TW for mild internalized transphobia

Oz had many lives and many experiences. He had joked to himself that none of his incarnations were straight. It was more amusing when Oz was correct about it.

Ozpin knew much before the grand voice of the former King of Vale entered his mind that he was queer. Glynda had sighed and couldn’t argue when the June after Oz had joined his soul that he was now the Queerest person on Remnant.

“Just think about it,” Ozpin had said, he was young at that time and had much more energy, “my soul has been many different things.”

Glynda shook her head, “you are way too excited about this whole ghost thing.”

“It’s better than thinking I had been  _ drugged,” _ Ozpin countered.

The “Remnant’s Queerest Man” jokes stayed between himself and Glynda (and Oz for as long as that distinction was there. It was one of Ozpin’s jokes and jabs that the old soul actually was  _ highly _ amused by even to begin with. He came around to the others in time). 

Qrow thought it was funny too once he was added to the fold. James… James just took it.

“Logically, yes, yes you are,” he had said with the  _ dullest  _ of expressions.

Ozpin himself didn’t have many preferences. He was a flirt when he was younger, pretty people were all around him, and labels seemed like too much work. Everyone was hot- why did anyone think any differently. 

Unfortunately, responsibility mellowed our even the most  _ dashing  _ of bachelors and serious dating had faded out if Ozpin’s priority list as the gravity of what he got into settled in. Sure, people were still  _ very  _ pretty, but Ozpin agreed with himself that he didn’t have the particular drive or specific person to try to deal with romance with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Instead, Ozpin just kept an eye out. With many lifetimes of experience, Ozpin found himself counseling several students who came in a bit confused, not sure who to talk to.

Some students were certain of themselves already. Coco Adel had gotten a large package with a full-sized lesbian pride flag that she had thought was much smaller when she bought it. It ended up hanging outside of CFVY’s dorm window for about a week as Coco tried to make room for it while also refusing to put it in storage.

“It was the principal,” Coco had said when Ozpin entire to ask her why a giant flag was outside of her window. Not upset, he had promised, just confused. “I wasn’t going to put it in the  _ closet,  _ that just seems to be begging for bad karma.”

On the other side of the coin was Mahogany of Team TMBR. From day one they had been called various things. “The Dudebros”, “The Himbos”, “Testosterone Team”. It had been three months into the semester when Mahogany asked to meet with Ozpin.

When Mahogany walked in the door, she had her hair down, usually, it had been pulled up into a tight top knot and she was out of uniform even though it was very soon after classes had ended for the day.

“I need a new uniform,” she had said right off the bat, “I can’t… I can’t do this anymore.”

Ozpin clasped his hands together, “Just so we are on the same page, what would you like me to call you right now?”

She raised her hands and looked conflicted. “I- I don’t know! Just- Mahogany for now? I- I’m not a boy. I just- I just can’t.”

“May I call you Miss Mahogany?” Ozpin offered, just the last name would be fine.

Her gold eyes lit up, hopeful. “Please?”

It wasn’t a hard fix. A new uniform, a few changes in the system, and some emails to Mahogany’s professors, and that was that.

The student simply known as Mahogany was in the system and no one else had ever existed.

TMBR’s title was changed to “The Himbos and their brain cell” by the student body. “The Dudebros and Mahogany.” Anyone who said anything different would soon have to deal with Tan, Rust, and Birch who were all ride or die for their teammate.

So it wasn’t a secret that Ozpin wasn’t straight. Students who stayed over the summer knew that Ozpin very happily decorated his office in June and always joined in festivities in Vale.

Ozpin wasn’t sure  _ who _ called him “Remnant’s Queerest Man” to the students some years before but it always seemed to stick. In truth, Ozpin was fine with it if it meant that students like Mahogany would feel comfortable walking into his office for help.

Adding Oscar to the equation was a bit strange. While some students openly called Oscar Ozpin’s “son” or “kid”, everyone pretty much knew he wasn’t biological. A couple of students had called Oscar his “nephew” but everyone found it much more humorous- and honestly more accurate to how Ozpin acted- to call Oscar his “son.”

Ozpin assumed that Oscar knew about himself. Hell, Oz had been with Oscar for close to a year by what Oscar had said, surely such talk would come up. Ozpin has hounded Oz about how this would affect his flirting endeavors. Sure, Oscar was younger than Ozpin had been, but Oscar was almost 15 by the time he had traveled back, surely a crush or two had come up.

June rolled around eventually. Classes were out for the summer and Ozpin was excited for the break and a little bit of merriment. He had confined himself to be serious most of the time, but everyone needed a break.

Ozpin happily traveled up to his office on June first, pulling his things out of storage.

“What’s got you so excited?” Oscar asked, leaning over to see, a book held in his gloved hands.

“It’s June,” Ozpin said, dragging out the bin, “I always decorate in June.”

Oscar frowned, “What for? Also, half the school is gone.”

Ozpin looked up, “We didn’t have a June together in your time, did we?”

Oscar shook his head, “Early July. What’s June?”

“Pride month!” Ozpin grinned, opening one of his bins, “I don’t do too much on campus, but I have fun when I can.”

Oscar glanced down at the bin and back up at Ozpin, “Oh. We uh- didn’t have a lot of that kind of stuff on the outskirts.”

“It is always a lot of fun, I always have a few students who appreciate it,” Ozpin said, beginning to sort through his things. He glanced back at Oscar who was looking away, “is something the matter?”

Oscar shrugged, “I guess I uh- thought you didn’t know. But… yeah, it’s silly to think you didn’t.”

“Know what?” Ozpin frowned.

Oscar’s face turned red and he turned away, “you don’t need to rub it in my face.”

“Oscar,” Ozpin stood up, “I sincerely don’t know what you are talking about.”

Oscar bit his lip and turned back to Ozpin, pulling out at the collar of his shirt. “That… that I’m trans.”

Ozpin blinked. “I did not know that.”

Oscar stared, dumbfounded. “I went to the hospital! Surely someone said something.” He pressed his hands to his face, looking red, “I was so glad that no one said a word at the hospital, I hoped that no one said anything to you. Oh, I messed it all up.”

“Oscar,” Ozpin spoke up softly, “that doesn’t change anything. I sincerely had no idea, but it doesn’t matter.”

Oscar slowly peeled his hands off his face. “Really?”

“Yes,” Ozpin said with as much sincerity as he could. “Please tell me if you need anything, nothing’s changed.”

Oscar let out a breath. “I know… you said that before but it’s still scary every single time.”

Ozpin nodded, “that is understandable. It’s a completely different situation. Anything else you would like to tell me? I have open ears.”

Oscar chuckled, “oh, you’ll hear a whole lot of nothing from me.”

Ozpin frowned a bit, “oh? Why’s that? It’s okay if you’re not comfortable, but I promise I won’t be upset.”

“No, that’s not it,” Oscar said, stretching, “never had a crush and I’m good if I never do. I just need my friends and family to be happy.”

Ah. Yes, Ozpin could remember a couple of lifetimes like that. They were rare. It was probably just the two. And now Oscar.

“I think I have an Aromantic flag in here somewhere…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No matter what headcannon you have- we all have to agree that Oz is Remnant's Queerest Man and 100% enjoys Pride in Vale. 
> 
> But it's pride month for me and I have fun in my own house.


	3. NAVE in the Background

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought the last one was self-indulgent well...  
> I really wanted to write some NAVE and so why not post it as well?   
> TWs: Mentions of death, mentions of weed, Author just spitting their friend's characters into RWBY cannon because they can

"You know I thought these monthly video calls were kinda a dumb idea but now I like them," Vidal said as Blue glared at them. He was glaring in particular because Vidal was not alone. One Loriini Evergreen was leaning on them with a big grin on their face.

Blue was the most serious of their former team, Team NAVE, along with their former leader. Even though they hadn't been on a team in two years, they still tended to defer to him. He was the tallest and the one who had his head on straight. He was a bird Faunus and a year older than all of them, personally delaying going to Haven for a year because of his own personal concerns about his strength. The direct opposite to Lori who squeezed herself in a year early.

Jasper puffed their cheeks, "Why is chaos duo in Vale and I'm not there!" They complained, fluffing out their feathers, wings that they had as they were also a bird famous- something they joke about with Blue, "Maybe I can get a transfer-"

"No," Blue said, quickly cutting them off, "No. No. Vale does not need the three of you together in one place unsupervised."

Vidal rolled their eyes, "Diana's here."

_ "Diana doesn't count," _ Blue said firmly before sighing, "Why are  _ you _ in Vale, Lori?"

Lori shrugged, "Change in scenery. I ran into Vidal and we got work together pretty quick."

Blue shook his head, burying his head in his hands.

"Vidal, do you think Ozpin will hire us full-time?" Lori asked, a big grin on her face.

Blue sputtered. "Ozpin?!  _ Headmaster _ Ozpin?!" Lori and Vidal grinned coyly. Blue didn't do a lot of 'huntsmaning' during the school year as a teacher. He was personally more interested in teaching and idolized Headmaster Lionheart. He also was a big fan of Headmaster Ozpin. None of them let him live down his little fanboy-isms.

"Yeah, we rescued his son the other day," Vidal said, leaning forward.

_ "His  _ **_son?!"_ ** Bue gasped, grabbing at his face, "Since when did Headmaster Ozpin have a  _ son?" _

Vidal and Lori looked at each other and then shrugged.

"I don't think we should tease Blue about this one, Vidal, it was kinda... bad," Lori said leaning, "Ozpin's son called Ozpin saying that there were some suspicious people and Vidal and I thought he was just being overprotective but when we went into the store..." They trailed off.

Vidal scowled, "Yeah the store owner was dead and no one was around. Poor kid was shell-shocked almost the whole time we waited at the station."

Jasper gasped, "Oh no! Poor kid!"

Blue grimaced, "Yeah... that's... that's rough."

"I emailed Ozpin to ask how he was the other day," Lori said, glancing back at Vidal, "Ozpin said he was okay but still taking it hard. He was really blaming himself for not doing anything when he was there."

"How old is he?" Jasper asked, leaning forward.

Vidal shrugged, "like- twelve? Thirteen maybe? Probably going to start Combat School next year if I had to guess. He had a little cane like Ozpin's. If I wasn't so worried about the fact that he wanted to rush into danger, I'd say it was really cute."

"Blue you should email Ozpin and tell him to send Oscar to Sanctum!" Lori said, standing up suddenly.

Blue sputtered and turned red, "I- I  _ what? _ No! I can't do that!"

"Yeah yeah!" Vidal said, brightening up again, "Blue you'd  _ love _ him! Oh my gosh, you'd be his favorite teacher and then you could get close to Ozpin-"

Blue waved his hands in front of the camera, "Stop stop stop! I already almost died writing my recommendation letter last year!" He rubbed his face, "not that he really needed to  _ read _ that letter."

"I'm sure Ozpin  _ loved _ hearing you gush about Pyrrha for twenty pages," Jasper teased.

"I cut it down to three!"

"Oh my god he wrote twenty pages," Lori murmured.

Blue clenched his fists, "She  _ deserved _ to go anywhere she wanted to!"

"Blue, you just love your kids," Jasper said, in a tone that was softer than teasing.

Blue sniffled, "They're all so small and they're growing up  _ so fast!" _

"There there, big guy," Jasper said, with a wistfulness in their voice

* * *

Blue Narhi considered himself a good teacher. His students liked him. He was patient yet firm. Even though Blue didn't have younger siblings, he felt like he got enough practice wrangling chaotic children when dealing with his former teammates. Only a couple months into their first year, Blue ended up just having weekly Saturday morning tea with Headmaster Lionheart to go over all of the things that his teammates had gotten into. It ranged from Vidal kicking some dude in the shins and then stabbing him with a tiny arrow they made with their semblance (in Vidal's defense, he was being creepy to Lori) to someone accusing Jasper of having weed (they did, it was medical for migraines), to Lori setting a trash can outside the dorms on fire (there was no known excuse for this one.)

So Blue was extra happy when someone told him this. That he wasn't just himself trying to boost his mood after a long day. So periodic emails from Pyrrha were especially nice.

Pyrrha was one of Blue's students for two years, and they had gotten along great between both having polearm melee weapons and semblances that could be used similarly. Pyrrha's Polarity was much more versatile than Blue's Return (Or 'Boomerang' as his teammates would not stop calling it, much to his ire), but Pyrrha still asked Blue about his own tactics and fighting, which Blue was happy to talk about. When Pyrrha asked  _ Blue _ to write her letter of recommendation, he had never been more honored. Sure, he may have gone a bit overboard when he started working on it, but he had been quietly bursting with pride whenever he saw Pyrrha succeed and he tried not to gush too much to his former teammates because he had a lot to say on so many of his students and Blue knew that he likely couldn't stop at just talking about one of them.

When Pyrrha traded emails with Blue once she started at Beacon, he was overjoyed every time he heard from her. His former teammates teased him for 'dading so hard' but he really couldn't help it. Pyrrha told him about her team, how classes were going, how the professors were like... Blue was happy to hear.

'I've been training with one of the staff member's kids who live on campus in the mornings. He's been going out alone to train by himself for a while now, I think, because he's really talented. So Nora and I decided to join him. It's been nice. I see why you like being a teacher so much.'

Blue about fell out of his seat with his cheeks hurting from smiling so much.

* * *

Jasper Anatol stayed on Anima most of the time. Sometimes, Lori would come on missions with them, but Jasper did their own thing mostly.

They had a side-hobby, or was it a side-job? They worked in barbershops sometimes is what it was. They skipped around villages and towns, beating up Grimm, doing a few extra jobs- more for fun than the money- before taking off. Sometimes figuratively. Sometimes literally.

So it was nice to hear from their team between their group chat and monthly video calls.

Jasper knew that they were the one that NVE called when they needed support. While Lionheart still didn't consider them "responsible", they still were calmer than Lori and Vidal who might have destroyed half of Haven by themselves if left alone.

"I'm the team weed dealer," Jasper joked when they were in Haven.

Blue shot them a look.

"I deal weed to myself," Jasper remarked.

Vidal groaned, "I want weed."

Blue pushed Vidal's face back, "No one else gets weed. It's Jasper's medication. Not for fun."

"Blue you ate all of their brownies two months ago," Lori pointed out as they hung upside down from their bed.

Blue's face flushed, "I didn't  _ know!" _

Vidal giggled and walked around Blue and elbowed Jasper with a sneaky grin. Blue, seeing this, swatted them away. "I didn't even say anything!" Vidal complained.

"You had a  _ look _ on your face," Blue hissed.

Jasper nodded, "Message received, Vidal. The mission is a go."

Blue let out a shout of frustration.

* * *

Vidal Princex was more prone to being angry when left to their own devices. They weren't as physically strong as their other teammates, but they would gouge out an eye of anyone who messed with them.

Maybe that was why once Ozpin took Oscar away that Vidal was no longer stressed and worried but mad.

Mad that a child had to see that. Mad that someone would carelessly take another life. Mad that they weren't faster.

Lori grabbed Vidal's hand. "You know, we did all we could, too. Right?"

Vidal let out a long breath, trying to let go of the boiling feeling beneath their skin, "I still wish we could have done more."

Lori patted the back of their hand, "We can go get some food. It's well after lunch now. I'm sure Diana won't get too mad that we went out to eat without her."

"Yeah," Vidal sighed and ruffled Lori's hair and they made a hissing sound back at them.

* * *

Loriini Evergreen was the youngest member of what was Team NAVE. They were also the smallest. They were  _ also _ the physically strongest. They happily waved around their giant ax or split them into two  _ slightly _ smaller ones despite their size. After years of their own hard work, they were strong, capable, and only a little bit distractible.

They had no issue protecting people much taller than themselves- hell, Lori had taken a specific role to keep heat off of Vidal who's physical health was the worst of the team's. So protecting a kid couldn't be too hard.

Vidal wondered what in the hell Ozpin was doing if this was the second time he had to call Lori and Vidal to help Oscar. Only this time it was late at night. At a hospital. Because someone tried to kill the kid.

"I really think Ozpin should hire us full time," Lori repeated, pulling at the vines wrapped around her ax, "if this is going to be a regular occurrence he needs a personal guard for this kid."

Vidal tried for a smile, "Think he'd hire two more along with us?"

Lori snorted, "You think that Blue would take two steps away from working at Sanctum? He adores those kids."

"You don't think Fanboy would jump at the chance to work personally with Ozpin?" Vidal asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fair enough."


End file.
